Eva Kahn
Email: ekahn@oregonfoodbank.orgOrganization: Columbia Gorge Food Bank
Community: Columbia River Gorge
Meet Eva Kahn (she/her/hers):
Eva was born and raised in Oregon and was eager to share her love of the state through a second year of service. She graduated from the University of Oregon Robert D. Clark Honors College with a degree in planning, public policy, and management. During her time as a student, Eva completed an honors thesis on the efficacy of community gardens in student life programming, studied sustainable development abroad in Ecuador, and coordinated the University of Oregon’s student community garden for over 2 years. Her personal passions are social justice & environmental sustainability, and her professional curiosities are currently in access to food & land. In her free time, Eva enjoys riding her bike long distances, gardening, knitting, and artmaking.
Community and Organization:
The Dalles sits on the banks of the Columbia River, straddling the border of Oregon and Washington. Most know the Columbia River Gorge for its astonishing beauty, the emerging tech and engineering industry, craft beer breweries, outdoor recreation opportunities, and fruit orchards. Despite all its glory, the Columbia Gorge struggles with similar issues facing many rural communities in Oregon. Economic disparity, lack of housing, poverty, and hunger pervade. Columbia Gorge Food Bank seeks to challenge hunger and its root causes across three counties (Hood River, Wasco, and Sherman). It partners with 25 agencies in the Gorge, distributing food to 33 sites. These sites directly assist people in need of food. The food bank also coordinates with the state network of food banks and works on regional-level policy and community issues relating to the root causes of hunger.
Project:
Eva served a second term at the Columbia Gorge Food Bank in The Dalles. With a service area spanning three counties (Hood River, Wasco, and Sherman), Eva had the opportunity to engage in community development over a swath of rural and semi-urban landscape. Her main projects in her second year were coordinating a Gorge Community Food Assessment, assisting a group of leaders in South Wasco County develop community food projects, and building up the Food Bank’s digital communications and volunteer programs.